Today we welcome author Arthur Slade, who writes The Hunchback Assignments series. Did you know there are Steampunk books for tweens/younger teens? He’s written two of them! The Dark Deeps , the second book in the series was just released and I have a copy to give away to one lucky poster!
The Hunchback Assignments
When Modo turns fourteen, his education is complete. He must first survive in London on his own, then, with the help of beautiful Octavia, he uncovers a sinister plot being carried out in the very sewers beneath London.
The Dark Deeps
Modo’s latest mission, to uncover the underwater mystery behind the sinking of several ships, seems impossible. There are rumours of a sea monster or something even more nefarious. An astounding secret in the depths of the ocean.
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Steampunk Book Trailers
by Arthur Slade
Book trailers are a relatively new creation of the book publishing industry and they range from the “made on my home computer” to professional, movie-quality videos. I had created plenty of my own book trailers on my Mac, but to kick off The Hunchback Assignments I felt I needed to do something new and professional. I worked with a company out of Texas. I gave them the back cover copy, images from the Canadian, American, and Australian covers and they ran with it. They were able to provide powerful graphics, original music and, well, a “movie announcer” voice. Take a listen.
I was extremely pleased with how it turned out. How I wish my voice sounded like that! There was a good response to the trailer and it was fun to go back to the same company and see what they could do for The Dark Deeps.
Essentially this video is a sequel to the first one. The book trailers have become more useful than I imagined–I thought they would only be appearing on the internet but the trailers have been used on radio to introduce me before an interview (obviously they only used the audio portion of the trailer ), in bookstores to promote the book, and I use the trailers whenever I do a presentation–it’s a great way to lead off a reading and talk about the book. They certainly get the audience’s attention.
Plus, it’s almost like seeing a movie of the book come to life. Almost…
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The Hunchback Assignments
“A terrific entertainment.” Quill and Quire. Starred review.
Arthur Slade was raised in the Cypress Hills of southwest Saskatchewan and began writing at an early age. He received an English Honours degree from the University of Saskatchewan, spent several years writing advertising and now writes fiction full time. He is the author of the “Canadian Chills” series of books, “Dust” (which won the Governor General’s award), “Tribes,” and “Monsterology.” He currently lives in Saskatoon.
Make sure you visit the other stops on Arthur’s book tour!
Previous stops on The Dark Deeps blog tour:
Friday, September 17 – ArtSlade.com
Saturday September 18 – Cynsations
Sunday, September 19 – Free the Princess
Upcoming stops on The Dark Deeps blog tour:
Tuesday, September 21 – Steampunk Tribune
Wednesday, September 22 – Suvudu
Thursday, September 23 – Steampunk Scholar
Friday, September 24 – Through the Looking Glass
Want to win an ARC of The Dark Deeps? just leave a comment below telling me which book trailer you liked better and why. Contest runs through 11:59 pm PST, September 30, 2010, open internationally.
I definitely enjoyed the second trailer for Dark Deeps the best. It seemed like the company had a better handle on how to present the story the second time around. I wonder how they would do with a third installment?
Best of luck with these books, Arthur!
~Roni Lynne
I liked the first trailer better because it seemed less clutter than the second. The great thing about audio is that it isn’t necessary to use as much text, and it seems like the use of text in the frist trailer was just handled better.
I’ve added these books to my list of books to purchase on my next trip to the bookstore
~Maria
This sounds like a great series for my sons. I will definitely be checking both books out. I enjoyed the trailers. If I had to choose which I prefer, I’d go with the second for reasons similar to Roni Lynne who posted above. And I love that narrator’s voice!
Gabriella
The Dark Deeps–a modern steampunk adventure set in the mysterious waters of a vast ocean…C’mon, that sounds pretty cool to me.
Steampunk for Tweens? I’m 39 and I want to read these books!
I really liked the first video. I thought the production value was higher, and there was a consistency in the lighting and shading. Also the first vid had nice complimentary colors that flowed into one another.
There were a couple of times in the second video where the graphics reminded me of a Crazy Larry’s appliance sale advert.
Good effort on both fronts.
I liked the second one better, because it made me want to read the book. Of course, I already wanted to read the book because I read (listened) to the first one and it was indeed a thrilling adventure. But now I really really want to read the book. I’d like to read the book underwater, if possible, and this video makes me think that is is certainly possible.
I have to go with “The dark deeps” it gave more clues of the storyline while keeping more of it for discovery through your reading.
Thanks for the compliments and the interest in the series…and the trailers. Because of done so many trailers on my own (some that I’m proud of, some that I cringe at) it was nice to just step back and let the pros do it. I wish my voice was as deep as the announcers. I wouldn’t need a microphone for readings.
I first want to thank Art for utilizing my services in the production of these videos. I had a blast doing them, and look forward to continuing the series with better and more exciting trailers. These are amazing stories told by a pro, and my daughter, wife and I enjoyed them thoroughly.
To the bloggers, thank you for the kind words concerning the videos. As I continue to grow, these comments are gold to me and well received. Thanks for your support.
…”The Dark Deeps”…to be continued…
I am torn between the two as to which one I enjoyed more. The first video gives a good run-through of the main character, his set up and what is going to happen in the book and has a gothicdark mystery feel to it but relies more on words flying at you than artwork to explain what’s going on. Which for a book trailer should be ok, but since it is a video book trailer, more visuals would have helped. Whereas the artwork of the second video, as well as its design, is really well done and employs bright colors and dinamic editing to convey more action-adventure, but if you had only seen this one you’d have no idea of what was going on and who these people were.
I’m kind of giving a “Good idea, Bad idea” review of both videos rather than saying which one I liked more.
Well since I’m an artist I’m going to go with the second video as I enjoyed the visuals more, plus the idea of the underwater Nemo-like adventure is always an enjoyable read.
-M